Copied the start of the thread from my Welcome post... I'll update it every once in a while.

I bought an FZR 1000 about three months ago. My first bike and therefore my first FZR. As this forum has been at times an invaluable resource for information, I'd thought to register, say hi and maybe start posting as well. The bike is a '90, with a '93 engine, mainly in bad and worse condition. It runs though, probably not as fast as it should or used to, but luckily there seem to be no awful or mysterious problems, just general wear, tear and neglect. It gets better and makes less stressing noises with each repair.

What's done so far? Fixed/maintained leaking front shocks. Replaced leaking and dented fuel tank. Replaced the oil and filter (probably first time in X years). Found an original muffler to replace an ill-fitting and emptied-out one that was annoyingly loud. Replaced rear wheel bearings. Got a new indicator to replace a broken one, then got another one to replace the new one when I tried to take an off-road trip (I know it's as far from where the bike belongs, as possible , but it was fun and it actually handled better than I expected at first).

What's next? Trying to find a new front/top cowling, screen and mirrors that don't have pieces missing (even if it's broken) - so far nearly impossible. If I still want to ride before snow, I'll also have to get new sprockets/chain. And before next spring there will probably be a serious look-see and overhaul into the engine, transmission, all the bearings etc. Mend and paint the cowling - maybe something more interesting and more dynamic than original patterns. So I could justify buying a set of new tires for my birthday.

What I like about the bike? That it's heavy and stable - compared to the one I took my driver's course on (180kg/50kW), it's like a train vs. a car. The power - not really the full amount of it, but the fact that I don't have to rev it or shift all the time and I still have enough. I like that it's a calm bike when you want it and still if you want, you can speed up or flick in corners so quickly that you start thinking "what weight?" The double lights - high beams are awesome, better than my car; the single dipped beam on the other hand looks quite menacing in the rear view mirror, drawing slowly closer and closer.

Last edited by Kevadlilleke on Wed Sep 19, 2012 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Last week I found out that my battery is at the end of its lifespan. Wouldn't start one morning after sitting for a week, so I took out the battery, charged and monitored it. When charged to about 13.7V, in a few days of just sitting there it was already at 12.2V.

After that I spent a few evenings looking at different battery options and came up with:

Ended up buying a sealed/AGM battery just before packing it away in the garage for winter. With cold weather it wouldn't even start when battery was fully charged. Starting to gear up for when the snow and ice are finally gone and the garage is warm enough to work in (which will likely take at least a month...)

Can anyone with a '89-'90 FZR 1000 take pictures of all the parts the fairing is fastened to? I know I'm missing at least one bottom clip (engine to fairing) and some interior fairing bits (wind deflectors maybe? - should be behind the radiator), but when asking people, it would be nice to know if I need to get any other bits and pieces besides that.

Last edited by Kevadlilleke on Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ordered one drive set - stock size sprockets (17/47, 530) and a chain (DID530ZVM110). Apparently an entirely stock setup (DID532ZLV110) is hard to come by these days. But on the other hand, a 530 weighs the same and has more tensile strength (46.3kN vs. 43.3kN) and is supposed to be more wear resistant. We'll see.

New spark plugs are already here and new air and oil filters should be on their way.

The bike is back together and running again. Not too many pictures, I'm afraid - have to buy a cheap camera for that actually, touch screen phones and greasy hands don't mix... and I could have used a few photos in the re-assembly.

There is still one loose connector, no idea what it's supposed to connect to

Sync the carbs

Replace seat (or seat cover)

Ordered new intake rubbers (carb to airbox)

Ordered new valve cover gasket

Well, a lot of things started working: sidestand cut-off, reserve switch, idle speed was brought down to 1000 from 2000.

I also started to try and improve the suspension settings. Front was 7 stops out, rear was 45.5mm and 21 (!!!!!) clicks out - no wonder it was soft as hell. At first I thought I'd try factory defaults, but then I took a look at the suggested values table in the repair manual and reconsidered because I weigh a bit more than 100kg. So I chose 4 stops out for the front and 42.5mm and 6 clicks out for the rear. Which was later corrected to 4 stops, 45.5mm, 6 clicks - I couldn't find a spanner thin and big enough for the rear preload nuts and I don't have the original toolkit.

The suspension is now loads better, I might change the rear to 7 clicks out, but I have to try some two-up riding to be sure - it's kind of borderline bumpy.

Bear in mind you SHOULD be using different settings for one-up vs two-up riding - an extra 50-100kg on the back (depending on the svelteness of your pillion ) will most certainly affect the performance and handling. If nothing else, you'll suddenly have a bit more rake ...

Continuity and checking the relay is the next step on my list after checking the clutch switch. In most of my work on the bike I'm referencing the '89 service manual and wiring diagram from here: http://fzronline.com/wiki/doku.php?id=fzr1000. I actually even printed it out and it's the size of a decent book.

Not all the chapters there are as detailed as I'd wish though. An example:

SPARK PLUG INSPECTION1. Remove:Spark plug

Without any foreword as to what other parts to remove to get access to the plugs.